


Red

by shadowcat720



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood Drinking, Dark, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Slavery, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:47:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29258421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowcat720/pseuds/shadowcat720
Summary: Carmine had never liked or understood the custom of keeping humans as pets. He had always gotten his blood from animals. He was beginning to see the appeal of it, though.
Kudos: 6





	Red

Carmine couldn’t blame his new pet for struggling against him as he laid him down on the bed. He had seen Carmine kill his previous master and a week in Carmine’s care hadn’t eased his fear.

Carmine had never liked or understood the custom of keeping humans as pets. He had always gotten his blood from animals. He was beginning to see the appeal of it, though. He had made the mistake of licking up the pet’s blood from his neck when he had killed Ambrose and healed the pet’s wound. The sweet taste was like a drug he couldn’t go without.

He ran his fingers through his pet’s hair, admiring the soft light-blond strands. “Hush, darling Snowflake,” he soothed, using his power gently. He could send his pet to sleep quickly, overwhelm his mind with a hard shove that would send him careening down into oblivion, but that didn’t feel right. He murmured to his pet, lying beside him on the bed and watching as the young human’s eyelids fluttered and his cries quieted to the occasional sob.

He had taken to calling the pet ‘Snowflake’, since he had been unable to coax a name out of the poor creature. He had been dressed in white when Carmine had first seen him, struggling desperately against Lord Ambrose as the stupid vampire tore at his neck with his fangs and sent blood, precious life-blood, spilling over white cloth. This beautiful creature deserved better than to be fed from in such a cruel, wasteful way.

So Carmine had killed him and found himself with a traumatised pet.

He moved to stroking his pet’s cheek as those light grey eyes slid shut and didn’t open again. Snowflake’s breathing was now deep and even. Carmine waited to be sure, then trailed fingers over the soft, vulnerable skin of Snowflake’s throat. Such a gesture would have caused Snowflake to struggle and cry if he felt it.

Carmine caressed the skin one last time and rose to lean over him. He took one of Snowflake’s thin, pale wrists in his hand. He could feed from the neck, but considering what Ambrose had done and the ugly scars that wound had left he didn’t feel like it.

He brought the wrist he held to his mouth and licked at the skin. Still no reaction from Snowflake, the hand was limp and unresisting, so Carmine carefully pierced the skin with his sharp fangs.

The taste of the warm blood flooding his mouth was just as good as he remembered. He knew pets were genetically-engineered to taste good, but had never realised that one could become addicted to the taste. Animal blood was stale and bland in comparison to Snowflake’s sweet blood.

Carmine knew he had to be mindful of Snowflake’s condition, though. His pet was too delicate to lose too much blood. That was why he always fed at night, when Snowflake could spend the night in bed sleeping and recovering and he could keep an eye on him without having to worry about being called away.

He closed the wound, licking at Snowflake’s skin for longer than he needed to and giving the wrist he held a kiss before setting it down on Snowflake’s chest. He couldn’t help but lean over to kiss Snowflake’s forehead.

It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, but he could stop because he knew there would be more. As long as Carmine kept Snowflake safe and happy, there would be more. He wasn’t going to be foolish like Ambrose.

With such a light touch of his power, it didn’t take long for Snowflake’s breathing to hitch and his eyes to flutter open. The first time he had woken up to find Carmine so close, Snowflake had cried and thrashed. Now he lay still, his quick heartbeat betraying his anxiety.

“It’s all right, darling,” Carmine murmured to him, cupping his cheek. The wound on Snowflake’s wrist was completely healed (not even a scar remained), but Snowflake was familiar with the warm tingling of a recently-healed wound and the feeling of blood-loss. He knew Carmine had fed from him.

“Come now, darling, sit up for me.” Carmine arranged pillows so Snowflake would be comfortable. “Lie back now,” he coaxed.

Snowflake did, leaning back on the pillows. His wispy hair was rather long and Carmine would have to see if he wanted it cut or would prefer to let it grow. Had Ambrose even asked?

Carmine held a cup of orange juice to his lips, letting Snowflake sip slowly. Once Snowflake turned his head away and refused any more juice, he put a biscuit into his hand. Snowflake nibbled at that, eyes watching Carmine warily as though worried he might decide that he hadn’t had enough blood after all.

Every other vampire he knew would tell him he was coddling his pet, that they were made to withstand feedings and he should just leave it alone. But Snowflake’s face was pale and the hand that held the biscuit, so fair and fragile, was shaking.

“Do you want anything else, darling?” Vampires needed blood for sustenance, but they did eat human food occasionally. The kitchen staff would be done for the day, but he would wake them up to fix something for his pet.

Maybe he should hire human staff instead of vampires. They might have a better idea of what Snowflake needed and might like. Vampires doubtless had a different sense of taste. Where might he find such staff, though? It was something to seriously consider. He had always hated the way vampires treated humans and perhaps he needed to start trying to do something about it beyond making life as pleasant as possible for one pet.

“No, thank you.”

The reply was so soft Carmine almost missed it, the voice somehow calling to his mind dawn’s first light on snow. Carmine tried to keep from letting his glee show, not wanting to upset his pet, but he couldn’t keep the smile from his face.

Words. Snowflake was talking to him. Finally. He had to be doing something right. He had so many questions, but was afraid that Snowflake might decide not to speak again if he got too excited.

“More juice?” he asked, picking up the half-full glass.

Snowflake reached out and took the glass from him. Their fingers brushed and Snowflake didn’t flinch. His eyes flickered down to the wrist Carmine had fed from, which was pale and unmarked.

Snowflake sipped more juice. Carmine settled on the other side of the bed, letting him have some space. The curtains over the window were open, but not much would be visible to Snowflake’s human eyes. Clouds covered the stars and they didn’t have city lights to light up the night out here.

“Did you really feed from me?”

“Yes,” Carmine said. “Just a little. I’m sorry, Snowflake, but you have no idea how your blood tastes. If I hadn’t tasted it when I healed your wound that day, I would never have fed on you.” He hadn’t been able to stomach any other blood ever since.

Snowflake finished the juice and put the glass on the nightstand. Carmine wondered how much he could see. He had left a lamp on, but it was on the other side of the room and set to dim. He knew human eyes were bad, but wasn’t quite sure how their vision compared to his. Vampires didn’t tend to care about such things, beyond the fact that humans couldn’t see well and were less likely to get away from their masters in the dark.

“Would you stop if I asked you to?”

Carmine looked at him. He looked frail leaning back on the pillows, his hair sticking out from lying on it, but he looked so much better than he had the first day.

“Do you want me to stop?” It damn near killed him to ask the question. It _would_ kill him to stop, Carmine was sure. He would try, though.

Snowflake shook his head. “Just don’t take any more than this. And, please, keep putting me to sleep. It’s better when I don’t feel it.”

“All right. I never wanted to hurt you.”

Snowflake finished the biscuit. Carmine got up and pulled the covers back. Snowflake started to get up.

“Wait.” Carmine told him. He strode around to that side of the bed, not wanting Snowflake to stand up on his own after being bitten.

He had Snowflake sit on the bottom half of the bed while he pulled the covers back and re-arranged pillows so Snowflake could lay down again.

Snowflake sighed and curled up under the covers.

“Are you warm enough, darling?” Carmine asked. Humans were so much more sensitive to temperature than vampires.

He got a cute, sleepy noise that he thought might be an affirmative.

Carmine got into the other side of the bed. He wasn’t sure if other vampires shared their beds with their pets—well, he knew they did, but not without sex being involved. For Carmine, it had been a simple matter of not wanting Snowflake alone for so long. As he had expected, Carmine had woken to Snowflake in the throes of a nightmare several times now.

A gesture of his hand shut off the lamp, leaving them in darkness and silence.

A few minutes later, Carmine felt Snowflake’s warm, thin form against his back, cuddling into him. An arm wrapped around his waist and breath tickled the back of his neck. Carmine waited and soon heard Snowflake’s breaths even out as he fell asleep, without Carmine’s help this time.


End file.
